Therapeutic electromagnetic vibrator



Get. 15, 1957 R. E. SMITH ET AL THERAPEUTIC ELECTROMAGNETIC VIBRATOR Filed April 26, 1955 INVENTO 5,5 05.16am z' A TRNEY United States Patent ice 2,809,631 THERAPEUTIC ELECTROMAGNETIC VIBRATOR Raymond E. Smith, Hamden, and John J. Baltrush, In, New Haven, Conn., assignors to The A. C. Gilbert iCoEipany, New Haven, Conn., a corporation of Mary- Application April 26, 1955, Serial No. 503,863 Claims. (Cl. 128-41) This invention relates to portable electric massage appliances or therapeutic vibrators of the solenoid energized electromagnetic type wherein an applicative member projects from the housing of the appliance and vibrates relatively thereto for contact with the body to be treated.

An object of the invention is to construct the housing in the form of a casing which will serve as a handle for holding and maneuvering the appliance.

Another object is to dampen the intensity of any vioration that is transmitted to the hand of the user which grasps the casing.

Another object is to minimize transfer of heat from the electromagnet to the casing for preventing the appliance from becoming uncomfortably warm in the hand of the user.

Another object is to incorporate within the electric circuit of the solenoid and within the casing a half-wave rectifier for optionally slowing down the rate of vibration.

A still further object is to incorporate within the easing a control switch having accessible outside the casing a handle that is easy to manipulate by finger movement of the hand that grasps the appliance.

These and further objects will become apparent from the following description of a preferred and successful embodiment of the invention having reference to the appended drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a view in elevation showing a therapeutic vibrator embodying the invention in suitable actual size to be grasped bodily by the hand of the user as indicated A in broken lines.

Fig. 2 is a bottom plan View of the vibrator showing the applicator partly broken away.

Fig. 3 is a View of the front end of the device looking from the left at Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a view taken in a longitudinal section through the casing on the plane 4-4 in Fig. 3 looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 5 is a plan view taken in section on the planes 5-5 in Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view taken in section on the plane 6-6 in Fig. 4 looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 7 is a diagram of circuit connections.

The casing 12 of our improved vibrator is horizontally elongate and comprises a top half 13 and a bottom half 14 meeting separably at a rabbeted planar joint and held together by two front screws 15 at the nose end of the appliance and by the rectifier mounting screws 16 and 17 near the rear end of the appliance.

The wall of casing 12 is thickened at 20 in the top half 13 to afford an abutment against which there is fixedly mounted by means of casing screw 16, and an additional screw 18 with its nut 19, a leaf spring 21 of suitable thickness and resistance to fiexure to mount and resiliently support all of the moving components of the vibrator. One end of spring 21 overhangs abutment 20 and has fixedly attached thereto an overlapping end of the bar K 2,809,631 Patented Oct. 15, 1957 2 armature 22 of an electromagnet 23 whose field core 24 forms part of a laminated E-shaped field frame 25. A solenoid winding 26 encompasses magnet core 24 and is flanked by arms of the field frame.

Electromagnet 23 is suspended from armature 22 in part by means of a vertical hanger screw 30 which extends freely through a hole in the armature and a hole in a shelf bracket 31 that is fixed on the field frame 25. This bracket is supported by an underlying nut 32 which threads onto screw 30 and screw 30 is supported by a compression spring 33 coiled about it and exerting resilient thrust between the screw head and armature 22.

As best shown in Figs. 4 and 6, the front end of the field frame 25 carries an arched, armature bridging strap 34 of springy metal that is held fixedly against one side of the field frame 25 by rivets 35 which also hold against the other side of the field frame a shelf bracket 36. The vertically spaced free ends of strap 34 and bracket 36 are coupled together by a space adjusting screw 37 and nut 38. Where bridged by strap 34, armature 22 is encompassed by a sleeve 39 of preferably soft and magnetically insulative material.

Any suitable type of applicator member 43 is held removably on the exterior end of a rigid stem 44 by means of screw 45. Stem 44 extends through an aperture 49 in casing 14 and is fixedly riveted at its top interior end 46 to the free end of armature 22.

Between hanger screw 30 and the armature bridging strap 34 the armature 22 carries a depending knife edge 47 that is rockably seated in a bearing notch 48 in the top of one arm of the field frame.

The aforementioned half-wave rectifier is designated 52 as a whole. It incorporates a rigid central body extending from top to bottom of the rectifier. The top of the central body of the rectifier contains a threaded hole receptive to screw 16 heretofore mentioned and said body of the rectifier presents at its bottom end a threaded stud 51 with which the casing holding screw 17 engages so that the rectifier is stationed fixedly between the top half 13 and bottom half 14 of the casing. Thus the rectifier will remain with either half of the casing when the other half of the casing is removed.

To insulate screw 18 and its nut 19 fi'om the electrically alive terminal 53 of the rectifier there is inserted a plate 54 of electrical insulation. The other electric terminal of the rectifier 52 is designated 55. In Fig. 4 lead wires are shown extending between the rectifier terminals 53 and 55 and electromagnet 23 and solenoid 26 of the electromagnet and control switch 56 in accordance with the scheme of circuit connections diagramed in Fig. 7. Here it is seen that the contacts in switch 56 are capable in one position of the switch handle of short-circuiting the rectifier 52 and in another position leave the rectifier in series with solenoid 26. Supply of current to the ap pliance is through the usual form of attachment cord 59 which at its far end (not shown) can be equipped with a conventional attachment plug for tapping into an ordinary 60 cycle alternating current supply outlet.

Generous openings 62 through the nose wall of the appliance serve in conjunction with openings 63 through the casing wall at the rear end of the appliance to afford cooling ventilation for the entire interior of the casing.

For operation with switch 56 when closed a factory adjustment of screw 37 may be made to predetermine the vertical distance through which the left end of armature bar 22 can vibrate in Figs. 4 and 6 responsively to the alternations of current in solenoid 26. The normal spacing of armature bar 22 from the pole face of solenoid core 24 can be adjusted by means of the screw 30 and nut 32 because of the ability of the knife edge 47 to rock freely and without friction in its seating notch 48. Through these two adjustments a desired amplitude of vibration can be set up before the attachment cord 59 is plugged into a source of current supply.

The frequency and power of vibration of the applicator can then be :reduced at will by finger manipulation of the switch handle 57 while th'e' usefishandgraspsithe appliance casing112 as shown by thebroken lines in Fig. 1. When the switch is thus opened the rectifier 52 will become effective in the circuit and current supply to solenoid 26 will be weakened and its frequency reduced;

. Since they principles of construction and operation underlying these improvements can be embodied in numerous departures from the exactshapes and arrangements of parts herein illustrated and described, the appended claims are directed to and intended to cover all substitutes and equivalents, therefor which fairly come within a broad interpretation of the recital of the claims.

The invention'here claimed is:

1. A hand heldtherapeutic' electric vibrator comprising, an elongate casing having a lateral aperture, an applicator including a stem extending through said aperture transversely of the casing length, an elongate armature extending lengthwise of said casing therewithin carrying said applicator stem, an electromagnet in magnetic and mechanical'operative association with said armature, and a cantilever metallic leaf spring extending lengthwise of said elongate casing, and mounted therewithin to flex back and 'forth transversely of the length of the casing in the direction said stem extends, said spring constituting the sole means of supporting connection between said casing and both said electromagnet and said armature.

2. A hand held therapeutic electric vibrator asdefined in claim 1, in which the said electromagnet is resiliently suspended from the said armature.

3.'A hand held therapeutic electric vibrator as defined I in claim 1, in which the said electromagnet is pivotally engaged with the said armature and resiliently suspended therefrom. I v

4. A handheld therapeutic electric vibrator as defined in claim 1, in which the said armature is pivotally interconnected with the said electromagnet and the latter is positioned on the same side of the former as is the said applicator.

5. A hand held therapeutic electric vibrator as defined in claim 1, in which the said electromagnet is supported solely by and in movable relation to the said armature.

6, A hand held therapeutic electric vibrator as defined in claim 5, together with two-way stop means delimiting the range of relative movement between the said armature and the said electromagnet.

' 7. The combination in an electric therapeutic vibratory appliance of, a hollow elongate casing comprising two separable casing halves having Walls whose edges meet longitudinally of the appliance, a thickening of one of said walls forming a support abutment inside the casing, a current modifying electrical unit stationed within said casing between said abutment and the opposite half of the casing, a vibratory mechanism including an electromagnet in electric circuit with said electrical unit mounted on and movably suspended from said abutment, and fasteners extending respectively through the Walls of opposite halves of the casing having screw threaded engagement with said electrical unit thereby to hold said casing halves togethe'n' 8. The combination defined in claim 7, in which the said casing is of, sufficiently small girth to be partially encompassed by and between the palm and fingersof an operators hand, together with an electric switch in circuit with the said electrical unit and the said switch, having a handle located within operative reach of one of the fingers of the operators hand While said hand encompasses the said appliance.

9. The combination defined in claim 7, in which the said vibratory'mechanism comprises an elongate'rigid armature bar aligned lengthwise with the said elongate casing therewithin, 'a resilient flexible mounting strip connecting one end of said armature bar to the said abutment, and the said electromagnet comprises an E-shaped field frameincluding a field core presenting its end to said armature with a solenoid winding surrounding said core and flanked by armsof said field frame, together with a rocker bearing between said armature and the end of.

one of said frame arms, a hanger device constructed to hold said arm of said frame suspended from said arniature', a moveme'ntlimiting stop operatively associating the other arm of said frame with said armature in a manner to delimit a range of relative vibratory movemerit therebetween, and an applicative member carried by and rigid with s'aid armature extending through the r wall of the said casing to the exterior thereof.

10. ;A hand held therapeutic electric vibrator comprising, an elongate casing, an elongate armature extending lengthwise of said casing and ther'ewithin carrying an electromagnet in magnetic and mechanical operative association with said armature and supported solely thereby, and a cantilever metallic leaf spring mounted within said casing in a manner to flex back and forth transversely of the length of the casing, said spring constituting the sole means of supporting connection between said casing and said armature. i 9

. References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED'STATES PATENTS 

